Boiler-tube cleaner



BOILER TUBE CLEANER.

A. R. COOPER e T'. E. STUCKY.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ASHLEY R. COOPER AND THOMAS E. S'IUCKY, OF MOORESVILLE, INDIANA.

BOlLER-TUBE CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,362, dated May 19,1891.

Application lecl October 17,1890. Serial No. 368,420. (No model.)

To a/Z whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, ASHLEY R. COOPER and THOMAS E. STUCKY, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Mooresville, in the county of Morgan andState of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBoiler-Tube Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our said invention is to produce a device by which scalecan be easily and quickly removed from the flues or tubes of boilers;and it consists in providing two bars with rollers arranged to come incontact with each other on the adjacent portions of their peripheries,and to come against the opposite inner surfaces of the tubes on thedistant portions of their peripheries, and thus when properly adjustedexpand the tubes where they come against them, thus temporarily changingsaid tubes from a round to a somewhat oval form in cross section, andcracking off the scale incrustation thereby, as will be hereinafter moreparticularly described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof,and on which slmilar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figurel is a perspective view of aboilertube cleaner embodying our saidinvention; Fig. 2, a longitudinal sectional view thereof showing theparts in the positions they occupy before or at the time the cleaner isinserted into a tube; Fig. 3,a similar view with the parts in thepositions they are when in operation inside the tube, together with aportion of said tube; Fig. 4, a transverse section on the dotted line 44, Fig. 2; and Fig. 5, a longitudinal section illustrating theoperatingscrew.

In said drawings, the portions marked A represent a portion of aboiler-tube, and B and C the two bars of our improved cleaner.

The cleaner, as above indicated, consists of the two bars B and C, whichare slotted or mortised near one end, and carry in said slots therollers B' and C', which are respectively mounted on small shafts b c.The end of the bar B is made thinner than its body, leaving shouldersand a narrow projecting point b, as shown most plainly in Fig. 1. Thejaw C is turned up at its point and bifurcated,

forming a fork c, through which said point Z9 extends, and whereby it isguided and held in placef Near the rear or handle end of the device thetwo bars are united by a right-and-lefthand screw B2, by which theirlongitudinal relation can be adjusted, so that the wheels may be broughtinto the relation desired. At intervals throughout their length the barsare connected by clamping-screws c2, as shown, which extend through aslot in one bar and into an appropriate screw-threaded hole in theother. These slots h2 are necessarily long enough to permit of thelongitudinal adjustment of the bars.

The operation of our said invention is as follows: The end of thecleaner which is armed with the wheels is adjusted to the position shownin Fig. 2 and inserted into the tube to be cleaned. Theright-and-left-hand screw B2 is then turned until the wheels are forcedinto the position shown in Fig. 3,0r to' so near that position as tosomewhat distend the tube, and the cleaner is then forced back and forththrough said tube, which, as before stated, has the effect to crack thescale on the outside of the tube and cause it to fall off. After thecleaner has passed through the tube it is turned and drawn back overdiiferent portions of its surface, and, if necessary, this process isrepeated until the scale is all cracked off.

It will be understood that the cleaner in practice must be as long asthe tube to be cleaned if it is to be pushed through; but if it is to bepulled through by means of a wire or rope it maybe much shorter. Thecleaner, of course, is to be made of a size corresponding to that of thetubes to be cleaned. The rollers being of equal size and with the innerportions of their peripheries in contact with each other, it requiresless power to force the device through the tube than otherwise would benecessary.

The essential feature of our invention is the arranging of the tworollers so that they will operate together, and so that one can berolled up onto the other sufficiently to produce the desired pressureinside the tube.

Having thus fully described our said invention, what we claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. 'Ihe combination, in a cleaner for boiler- IOO tubes, ot two bars, aroller mounted in eaeh of said bars, and means whereby said bars may beadjusted longitudinally, thus bringing said rollers in Contact andvarying the distance between the parallel planes bounding` their outerperipheries, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, ina eleanert'or boiler` tubes, of two rigid barshaving slots or mortises near one end and rollers mounted there` in, theextreme end of one of said bars being narrowed and the other bifureated,and one turned up to engage with the other, whereby said bars are heldin line as they approach toward or recede from eaeh other, substantiallyas set forth.

3. The combination, in a cleaner for boilertubes, of two bars carryingrollers anda rightand-lefthand serew extending' between portions of saidbars or projections thereon, whereby they may be adj usted longitndinally, substantially as set lorth.

4. The combination, in a eleaner for boilertubes, oftwo bars,expanding-rollers at one end of said bars, means whereby said bars i maybe longitudinally adjusted, and intermediate slots andeomieeting-serews, whereby the bars are held together, substantially asset forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands, atIndianapolis,Indiana, this 13th day of Oetober, A. D., 1800.

ASHLEY R. COOPER. THOMAS E. STUCKY.

Witnesses:

CHESTER BRADFORD, FRANK W. Wool).

